The seventh Summit of the Americas conference was held this past weekend in Panama City, Panama. Leaders and foreign dignitaries from Latin America, North America, the Caribbean, and Central America were in attendance. The 2015 Summit of the Americas was the first allow Cuba to participate and attend the conference. According to NPR, Pope Francis played a significant part in deliberations to extend an invitation to Cuba.

In conferences past, President Obama’s attempts to discuss particular policy issues were met with resistance as many countries felt strongly that Cuba should be included as members of the region. Cuba’s participation at the conference could mark more cooperation with other countries in the Americas in conjunction with US foreign policy.

Cuba’s participation in the 2015 Summit of the Americas was a momentous and historic occasion because it marked the first meeting of Cuban and American heads of states meeting since the Cold War. At the beginning of the conference on Friday night, Castro and Obama were photographed shaking hands. On Saturday, April 11th 2015, President Barack Obama and President Raúl Castro met publicly and engaged in discussion for over an hour at the summit.

During the meeting on Saturday, major talking points for President Obama focused on the acknowledgement of the United States’ differences and missteps, especially that America was not perfect. President Obama asserted that the nation would continue to remain in opposition to oppressive governments. He said that “the United States will not be imprisoned by the past. We are looking to the future.”

President Raúl Castro stated that he was willing to discuss with the United States as long as mutual respect was established. Castro reiterated that he wanted to see that the embargo would be lifted. He noted that President Obama was brave to take steps towards the removal of the embargo, a major foreign policy decision. Castro told Obama that he had read his books and felt that he was humble. Castro stressed the importance of Cuba being removed from the U.S terror list and was hoping that  decision could be reached in a timely manner.

Granma reported that Castro was very pleased to be invited to the conference and meeting with fellow leaders of other countries. They also included that Castro spoke about Cuba’s continued position as an ally for Venezuela.

http://en.granma.cu/mundo/2015-04-12/7th-summit-of-the-americas-an-historic-event

http://en.granma.cu/mundo/2015-04-11/raul-castro-and-barack-obama-meet-at-the-7th-summit-of-the-americas

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/11/398950752/historic-meeting-expected-between-obama-castro-at-americas-summit 

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/11/398917315/obama-castro-shake-hands-ahead-of-historic-meeting-saturday

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/world/americas/talks-with-cuba-earn-us-raves-in-latin-america.html?ref=world&_r=0

The Centre for Socio-Economic Studies and Democracy conducted a survey of over 1000 residents in Havana about their interest in establishing a pluralist system with multi-party elections and a free market economy. Cubanet said that 938 respondents reported that they were in favor of an open political system. Roberto Vasquez Diaz, one of the lead members of the survey said that 71.7% of the respondents were in agreement.

This research study comes as midterm elections are scheduled for April 19th according to Granma, the official state publication. Biographies of the candidates for the partial election will be distributed equitably for positions in the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power. This is apparently a hallmark of the Cuban electoral process. 27,379 proposed candidates are slated to be on the ballot on April 19th. Biographic materials about the candidates have been made available in public spaces as campaigning is prohibited in order to guarantee equal access to the electorate says Granma.

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2015-03-31/electoral-process-moving-forward

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2015-04-06/midterm-elections-to-take-place-april-19

http://www.cubanet.org/noticias/cubanos-quieren-pluripartidismo-y-elecciones-segun-encuesta/

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Officials for the Cuban postal service, Correos de Cuba were arrested and sentenced to jail for embezzlement. Sentences issued ranged between 1 to 10 years in prison according to Cubanet and Granma. The reported amounts of money embezzled were almost 1 million Cuban pesos and 30,000 convertible cuban pesos. Bank documents were forged, unjustified paymen other forms of fraud were corroborated by top officials. The former director of the Correos de Cuba was sentenced to 1 year in jail and the Head of Accounting received a five year sentence.

http://www.cubanet.org/noticias/empleados-de-correos-de-la-habana-a-la-carcel-por-malversacion/

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Cubanet reported that seven Cubans escaped from an immigration detention center in the Grand Cayman last Sunday night. Eleven Cuban immigrants were waiting to deported when they attempted to escape. Five men were caught and the other seven are unaccounted for. There has been an increase of Cuban “rafters” recently as a result of the slow response to repatriation for the detainees by the Cuban government and the back log of detainees. Compass Cayman reported that there are 42 Cuban detainees being held in the immigration center.

http://www.cubanet.org/noticias/seis-cubanos-se-fugan-de-un-centro-para-inmigrantes-de-islas-caiman/

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Airbnb, a popular and controversial online based home rental service is now expanding its operations for American tourists in Cuba. The use of the service in New York City had serious implications for the hospitality and rental markets. Landlords threatened tenants with eviction for their short term lease of their rooms.

Airbnb announced that they would be expanding operations for U.S citizens to book rooms in Cuba starting last Thursday. This expansion does not come without a caveat, U.S travelers can only visit under one of the 12 U.S approved categories of legal travel. Travelers can now fill out an honor form in regards to reasons for traveling to Cuba.

According to alJazeera’s report, this is the most noteworthy expansion of an American business in Cuba since the attempts to reestablish diplomatic ties began last year. As a result of these talks, the prohibitive trade embargo has become more lax on restrictions for businesses.

In the past three months, Airbnb has sent representatives to Cuba to enlist homeowners to list their properties. There are currently over 1000 properties listed on the Airbnb now with the majority in Havana and Cienfuegos.

One major facet of Cuba’s economy is tourism, especially private rooms and houses for tourists. Airbnb could bolster small business in Cuba. Airbnb has not faced any resistance for either the Cuban or American authorities.

While Airbnb sounds promising, a major concern that threatens the usability of the website is limited internet access for most Cubans as previously reported and has already created concerns. Skift has reported that five Airbnb profiles have been identified as the holders of 689 listings on the site. Michael, Jorge, Fatima, Luis, and Raul are all in charge of these listings. Airbnb had to release a statement that offered an explanation as to why these five were in charge of the properties. They explained the Cuban Five as “hosting partners” that acted as a middleman for homeowners due to the lack of access to internet.

This monopoly of “hosting partners” due to lack of internet access for most homeowners that would be posting on the site poses significant questions of whether or not these transactions are authorized. As American tourism increases in Cuba, it is crucial to be mindful of the possibility for these “hosting partners” to exploit fellow Cubans as they attempt to connect homeowners with the site. Especially as Skift reported that “most users are not Internet savvy.”

http://skift.com/2015/04/07/5-airbnb-cuba-hosts-manage-half-of-the-islands-inventory/

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/2/airbnb-rentals-for-us-travellers-to-cuba.html 

http://www.cubanet.org/actualidad/actualidad-destacados/casas-de-alquiler-turistas-comienzan-a-preferirlas/